Help to Buy: the three words of the moment.

Help to Buy: the three words of the moment.  That's why we're running a seminar on this hottest of topics in November - when things should have calmed down slightly.  Watch out for your invitation.

In the meantime, where are we?  The current hoo-haa centres on Help To Buy mortgage rates, but at least we know what they are now.  NatWest and RBS are charging 4.99% for a two-year fixed rate mortgage, or 5.49% for five years.  Halifax has opted for 5.19% for a two-year fixed rate, on top of a ?995 free.

At least HSBC, Virgin Money and Aldermore have now all confirmed that they'll join the scheme 'later this year'.  As a John Charcol spokesman commented: ' I don't think rates will begin to fall until we get a decent amount of competition'. 

Elsewhere, fears of a property bubble are back, prompting the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) to propose that the Financial Policy Committee of the Bank of England be given powers to limit house price inflation to 5%.  It believes that this would stem both reckless bank lending and excessive household debt. 

These are important issues, but what are the implications for those of us who invest in property?  Would this proposal help or hinder us?  As is so often the case, the answer is: 'it depends'.  What it depends on is how good you are at identifying the investments and returns on your properties.

If you buy a property that is in short supply now and is likely to remain so, if you buy it at the right price, and if you add value in the right way, you'll probably benefit from a RICS-style regulated market that is stable and certain.

If, however, you show less discernment in your purchasing, and particularly if you buy an expensive new build in a city centre that has shown limited price growth, then strict control of house price inflation will undoubtedly be bad news.

Investors who regard property as an alternative pension pot, hoping to harvest both capital growth and income would be particularly vulnerable to a housing inflation cap of 5%.

.gibbs-gillespie.